holidays. >> thank you for joining us. have a great day, everybody. >> an nra showdown. they stand firm saying it would be crazy not to put armed guards in every school. some lawmakers accuse the nra from shooting from the hip.

a christmas homecoming. after months being chained to a bed a veteran marine is coming home for the we will hear from his relieved mother. and a holiday forecast. triple-a predicts 93 million americans are making their way over the river and through the woods. we have your travel and weather forecast. all of that and do you remember the peanuts cartoon happiness is a warm puppy? we will have warm puppies in our studio. hopefully they are house-trained. "america's news headquarters" live from the nation's capital starts now. early this week the national rifle association broke its silence on the tragedy at sandy hook. i think the best way to prevent a future masacre is to put armed guards in schools. this morning the nra showed no signs of backing down from

that idea. peter doosey is here with the story. >> that's right, doug. the national rifle association is standing their ground. their ceo said putting a trained armed guard in every american school is the one thing that would immediately protect children. the nrapoint man how to deploy those guards former coming man asa hutchinson compared it to the need for federal air marshals. >> there was intense debate on airplanes. the guns have no place. yet we have a federal air marshall program that i helped to oversee in which is provided a deterrent. it has increased the safety of the airlines, and it is not like it is an armed camp when you go on the airlines. >> senator mark warner, a democrat from virginia, has an a rating from the national rifle association. but he doesn't think any one thing will prevent another mass murder.

he called today for a multi pronged approach. >> if my memory is correct there actually was an armed individual at columbine years ago. and it didn't prevent that tragedy. i think we need a comprehensive approach. i will look at all of the proposals. i think it looks at mental health. i think it looks at protecting our schools. i think it looks at these high volume magazines that can fire off so many rounds. >> senator amy, another democrat from minnesota, says inen tall illness is the common thread between all of these mass shootings. she said something should be done to keep high capacity magazines harder to get. she also said whatever action the federal government ends up taking it is important not to take guns out of the hands of hunters or fishermen. >> peter doosey, thank you very much. >> the fiscal cliff is looming and now the president has gone

home for the holidays and left for hawaii without a deal in place. with nine days left now, is it too late? remember the house budget committee marcia blackburn joins us now. congressman thank you for joining us. >> sure. >> before we get underway, i would love to play for you. play for you right now the president's words just before he departed on his hawaii vacation. here he is. >> so as we leave town for a few days to be with our families for the holidays, i hope it gives everybody some perspective. everybody can cool off. everybody can drink some eggnog and have some christmas cookies and sing some christmas carols and enjoy the company of loved ones. >> and then, congressman, just after he said that senator jeff sessions of alabama said this, and i shall quote, president obama today gave another speech about the fiscal cliff, no plan, nothing that can be scored or

analyzed, just another speech. if president obama wishes to avoid the fiscal cliff then he with all of the power and influence he holds as the leader of this nation must submit to congress in legislative form a plan that he believes can pass both chambers of congress with bipartisan support. no more secret meetings and pointless press conferences. your reaction to both of those? >> yes, i do agree with senator sessions. you know, back room deals, they never work out well. i do commend speaker boehner for allowing the house to work its will and to work by regular order. we have sent all of the bills that the senate needs to address this. the first one went over on may 10th which was reconciliation. august 1st was our tax extenders. the third was on our sequester. and then you finished in september with a path for tax reform. they are all on harry reid's desk. he can pick up whatever he wants. now for the president to think

that just taking a break from the discussions will solve the issue, i don't understand what he thinks is going to come from that. we have had our bills over there. we even passed a budget. and we are going on four years with the senate not even passing a budget. inaction has been the choice of the senate leadership. choices have consequences. and their consequences that the american people are facing this fiscal cliff it is going to happen on january 1st and 2nd, and it is happening because they have not done their job. the president should be speaking to harry reid in the senate saying come on now, get busy on this. take up one of those budgets. take up the tax extenders. this is what i am looking for, this is what we are going to work with you on. you know what, that's not what he did.

>> in the negotiations leading up to the super committee back in 2011, speaker boehner spoke frankly about the president's negotiating habits. he said he was not a good negotiator. bob woodward in his book pretty much described the same thing that the president was out of touch. and then we speak a statement like the president just made before he departed on his vacation. is he refusing to lead? perhaps he wants to go over the fiscal cliff. >> well, you know, and that is a very interesting point. i think maybe he does want to go over the fiscal cliff. that's how he gets what he wants. higher tax rates on everybody and extra cuts on defense. you know he is a professor. he is a lecturer. i think he is accustomed to telling people what he wants them to know and then eliciting a certain response. in the house we have had bipartisan support to extend

taxes, deal with a sequester, the things on harry reid's desk. we would like to see action from the president and the senate. >> congressman blackburn thank you very much. great to see you. we hope you have a very merry christmas. >> thank you. this just into our newsroom. new video of an airstrike in syria. a report that dozens have been killed and many more injured in the attack by the government on a bakery in the town of halfaya. that town was recently taken over by rebels. during the budget meeting, they say the u.s. needs to reexamine how the military plays a role in protecting our diplomats. at a time when our country is looming near fiscal cliff and see -- see questions station is around the bend how do you protect? he is a member of the armed services committee from california. congressman, thank you very much for joining us. >> good to be with you. >> tell us a little more about

this and how we need to be protected. >> well, wree certainly going to put the -- we are certainly going to put the resources into it. last year the congress put $200 million out of the security budget for the state department. so we are going to have to find the money. we are going to have to put those resources there first for the state department, and clearly there is a role for the military. there is a quick reaction for us in the military. it needs to be ready to go. we have consulates and embassies around the world. it will be difficult to the next point and we really need the intelligence, the cia and the other resources from the military to understand what is going on in the various countries. every country perhaps even in america is at risk of some sort of terrorist activity. so we really need to get ahead of it. all of those are the things that came out of the benghazi issue. that and a whole lot of blame for everybody. we have to put the blame game aside and they are figuring out what it is and get the

resources. they were there. we have to make it available. >> many blamed lack of funding to the state department and specifically republican cuts to funding on the state department. in part for the benghazi department. they said this about that quote. if the state department intends to blame the long list of failures on inadequate funding perhaps they should take a closer look at the money on the climate change. culinary diplomacy programs and other projects what do you say to that? >> there are plenty of places we could make cuts. one of those areas is not in the security for the various consulates and embassies. we need to make sure the money is there. we have to get away from the blame game. there is very important information that came out of the study by the select committee that took a look at that. we need to pay attention to that. but those elements are there. adequate money for the security. make sure the military which is all-around the world in various forms, they are able to respond quickly, get ahead

of it with intelligence. those are key areas. where is the money coming from? we are spending $88 billion this year in afghanistan and not including the security for the state department or the usaid. that's on the military side. we need to shift resources around. with regard to climate change, this is a real issue. we need to deal with that with regard to out reach to countries on the aide side and the humanitarian side. it is extremely important. we need to tell our story and be there to help people. all of these are parts of the total package. it is being the world's greatest country. >> quickly, congress -- coming man. i don't mean to interrupt, but we are running out of time. do you think secretary clinton should testify? >> she said she wanted to. i'm sure she will. it is getting down toward the end of her term. whether there will be a hearing or not given the time that is available, we don't know.

but, yes, she said she would testify. she did have a concussion and that delayed it. i suspect she will testify, but we have to get yond the -- beyond the blame game and we have to get past those things that really will protect our embassies and consulates and americans around the world. that's a tough job, and it is going to require a real concerted effort and frankly to put aside the blame game and get on with the specific recommendation. >> congressman, really appreciate your time. >> friends and family we bid aloha. they are being remembered for his decades of service in the senate and as a war hero winning the nation's highest military honor. he lost his right arm fighting in world war ii. at a sh what wash memorial -- at a washington memorial service he is expected to attend the final memorial with the first lady.

travel was a real nightmare for a lot of people earlier this week, but not today. good news for those of you heading home for the holidays. david lee miller, david? >> doug, what a difference a couple of days makes. some 5. million americans will be flying this holiday season. you can take a look at laguardia, despite this is one of the busiest travel days of the year things are moving like clockwork. not a single flight has been canceled that we have seen so far or delayed. some of the arrivals are getting here earlier than expected. as you mentioned just a couple days ago there were some 1,000 cancellations. that's when a storm slammed the midwest. now for the most part system wide there are very few problems to report. only 40 cancellations and about 500 delays. this is across the entire united states. we talked to a couple of travelers here at la gay you are de yaw.

at laguardia. they always prepare for the worst, but it looks to be a relatively easy travel experience. >> i just got here, so, so far so good. checking my bag and now going to the big luggage. this carry on thing will be a battle to find in the overhead compartment. >> you have a lot of things here if looks -- it looks like. >> yes, the gifts. everybody wants something from new york. all of the food goodies so bringing half of new york back with me. >> we packed a lot of food just in case. we are traveling with four girls and my husband who is busy checking the bags outside and going through dallas three hours there, and we are not going to get to cabo for 12 hours. it is a 12-hour day for us. >> and there is also good news for those who are not flying, those traveling by road. one in four americans aren't going to be on the roadways.

some 84 million people. they say gas prices are not expected to be a problem. the national average is $3.24, and that is not expected to deter people from getting where they want to be this holiday season. doug? >> already, david, thanks very much. be thankful you are not in the sierra nevada. a second storm is expected to slam into northern california leaving behind heavy rain, snow and large waves along the shoreline. in fact, the sierra nevadas could see up to four feet of snow. rick? >> hi, doug. i think a lot of areas, the higher elevations will see more than that. maybe even six feet of snow. from you there, you are glad you are a skier and that's why you want to be there. they have a great start to the season. these are the temperatures, it is cold across the northern planes. show you two storms we are following. one is the precursor. it is not a major storm. this is a future radar. we will see this develop down

across parts of the south. today, tonight and parts of tomorrow. then look at this, tomorrow evening christmas eve we will see 1 to 3 inches of snow across pennsylvania, new york and in toward new england. you are getting a very nice gift on tuesday morning and the roads won't be that bad. a little lake affect snow left over the great lakes, but the bigger storm you are mentioning is out across parts of the west. major rain, major snow and probably delays in san francisco. i will come back next hour and tell you it will have some big travel impacts tuesday, wednesday, thursday as a big storm moves across the country. doug? >> rick, thank you very much. everybody deserves a place to call home, especially during the holidays. there is one organization going all out at all times of year to find just that for animals. we will talk to the washington humane society coming up. don't go away. who is responsible for the country being perched at the edge of the fiscal cliff? there is a lot of finger-pointing going on these days. one of chris wallace's guests

places it squarely on the white house. that story coming up next.

we are now nine days away from the fiscal cliff. what happens to you if there is no deal? well, your taxes are going to go up, no doubt about that.

the tax policy center says households with an annual income of $20,000 to $30,000 can expect to pay $1,064 more in taxes. the average tax increase for someone making between $50,000 and $75,000 a year is $2,399 and for those making diss 100,000 to $200,000 a tax increase of more than $6,000 awaits you. there is only one person that can provide the leadership and that is the president of the united states. >> no, sir. >> there is only one person that can provide the leadership. rather than campaigning he should be here leading and, woulding with people and talking to folks on both sides of the aisle to get a solution so we don't go over the cliff. i believe the president is eager to go over the cliff. >> i don't believe that at all. there are 535 of us that can provide leadership. there are 435 in the house. there are 100 in the senate. there is the president. all of us have a

responsibility here. >> as you can see lots of finger-pointing going on on fox news today. the number three republican in the senate, a senate budget chairman faced off with what to do about the fiscal cliff. earlier we had the opportunity to sit down with chris wallace to get an exclusive look at the interview with the senators. >> so chris, we are nine days away from falling over the fiscal cliff. what is your sense of whether or not it will happen? >> well, in talking to two senators on fox news sunday he is -- he said, one, he believes we are going to go over the cliff. and he thinks that president obama wants us to go over the cliff. i have to say up until last thursday when the senate -- the house voted on plan b, the boehner plan, i thought this was all jockeying and maneuvering for position. but when they defeated the plan, house republicans did, to increase on taxes only on

people making $1 million a year i suddenly thought we may go over the cliff. one of the interesting things to see is the markets. this could be a situation where the markets basically force washington to do something by taking a real hit this week. we will see. >> and senator kent conrad of a different opinion? >> his feeling the obama plan, the president on friday before going to hawaii offered a paired down plan. an increase of taxes on people making over $250,000. and extent unemployment benefits and kick the can down the road on everything else. he said he thinks we can do better than that and should do better than that. he is proposing basically to split the difference from where obama and boehner were before plan b. basically get about $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction. i don't know if that will be possible in the next nine days. >> all of this symptomatic of

the huge casam in washington. >> we talked to rick warren, the author of the -- of "the purpose driven life," the best seller and we talked about washington and talked about newtown and also christmas in this somewhat bleak season. in terms of washington he said he doesn't think politics will solve anything. it really will have to be solved in people's daily lives in terms of their spiritual awakening. he says that the fixing and the blame is so great here that instead of trying to fix the problem we try to place the blame, and he is certainly right about this whether he is right about his prescription that nothing gets done in this town. and we have seen it in this last month of the fiscal cliff. >> looking forward to seeing that interview and others on fox news sunday. thank you very much. >> thank you, doug. and you can catch the entire exclusive interview right here

on fox newschannel. it airs after america's news headquarters. the national debt clock keeps ticking. america is swimming in a sea of red ink. when you break it down, just how much are you responsible for? that debt? we will give you the bottom line and coming home for christmas. after four months in one of mexico's most notorious prisons, the marine vet is on his way home, and his mother is speaking out for the first time. >> the first thing he said to me actually is "i need a shower." that was his first comment. my husband said he took like a 4-hour shower. i think he is doing okay.

it was like my first night i slept all nightlong without getting up. it was the thought of not wondering what was going with him.

can anyone hurt him tonight? >> the family of john hammer anxiously awaiting his arrival. the marine veteran making it home for the holidays after being freed from the mexican prison. it is the bottom of the hour and peter doosey with your top stories. peter? >> hammer and his father are expected to arrive home in florida later today. hammer was detained last august when he had problems with mexico's strict laws on gun ownership. he was held for attempting to bring a family hair -- heirloom across the border even though he tried to declare. it and there will be a referendum on a new constitution. the muslim brotherhood says the islamist-backed constitution passed with a 64% yes vote. the official results from the last round of voting are expected to be announced tomorrow. former south carolina governor mark sanford is confirming reports that he might run for his old house seat.

the one-time rising gop star stepped down as governor two years ago after admitting an affair. his ex-wife jenni sanford is also weighing running for the same house seat. and happy birthday to kolo, the first gorilla born in captivity and the oldest gorilla living in any zoo. she turned 56 and celebrated with a party at the columbus zoo in ohio. we should also wish our regular anchor a happy birthday. she is off for the holiday. there is a picture of her with her presents. >> and shannon is celebrating her 21st birthday. >> that's right. she can finally go and have a beer. as capitol hill is wrestling with the white house about what to cut and how much to cut, have you ever wondered how much of the national debt that you and your family owe? a special report brett bier

has a look at part two in our series "the cost of spending." >> the national debt clock spinning faster every year. we have all seen it before. >> do you see that clock up there? $16 trillion in debt. >> used as a prop at campaign events. >> when this campaign began it was a heck of a lot less than that. >> you can walk by the main debt clock in new york city, west 44th street and avenue of the americas. but when you really stop and look at it for awhile maybe even stair at it, frankly it is scary. as of today every household in the united states owes about $140,000 of this debt, every single household. the u.s. barrows roughly $6 billion every day. the country is borrowing $239 million each hour. that's $4 million barrowed every minute. so in the time this piece

started, the u.s. has borrowed another $4 million. this year for every $1 in revenues the federal government brought in, it spent $2.06. just to be clear when the u.s. spends more than it brings in in a year it runs a deficit. a deficit is a one-year short fall that has to be made up by borrowing. the national debt or total accumulated debt is the sum of all of the annual deficits. less any surpluses. it is the running tally. we hear politicians talk about deficits and debt all the time. >> debt,. >> deficit. >> deaf. debt. >> how they can get it to slow down or tick back the other way continues to be the challenge. but first, where we have been. >> let's look at debt through history. the amount we owe has ebbed and flowed. our country's habit of spending more than it takes in

is nothing new. while wree currently at the highest level of debt our country has seen, 1835 saw the lowest recorded debt at just $34,000 under president andrew jackson. it was an unsuccessful assassination attempt on him that year. in 1865 a president that did parish from such an attack, president abraham lincoln over saw a debt of $3 billion. fast-forward to black tuesday in 1929. the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the united states. our national debt rose to $17 billion then. then came world war ii, a very expensive one. and by d-day in 1945 our debt ballooned to $259 billion, a quarter of a trillion dollars. and then to more recent times. the 2008 financial crisis. the amount of our debt our country held crossed the $10 trillion figure for the first time. it has continued to rise. which leads us to where we are now, more than $16 trillion in

the hole and counting. the author of "the book says when government spending increases much faster than spending in the overall economy the private sector and the economy overall suffers. >> from 1945 to 1946 there was a huge cut in government spending because of the winding down from world war ii. the people who thought that government spending was holding the economy up were all predicting a major depression at that time. what happened was for the first time in 15, 16 years there was a huge increase in private spending on goods and services per person. a 25% increase in those two years. what was happening twhras was a substitute -- was there was a substitute with government spending coming down and more money and maury sources -- and

more resources to -- for private spending to go up. the recovery wasn't world war ii. spending money to assure the survival, but the real money came after world war ii. . >> bill clinton's budget director. >> many people rail about the government does too much. on the other hand, as soon as we have a serious storm they are saying the government hasn't done enough. so you have to be very specific about this. the driving force for additional government spending is not discretionary spending. it is this coming tsunami of older people we have to cope with. we expect medicare spending to grow. the question is, does it have to grow that fast? i don't think it does. >> this stanford economist and author of "first principals five keys to restoring

america's prosperity" says because of interest time is running out to deal with the debt and deficits. >> lots of people will lend to us so far as our debt doesn't get so large they are suspicious that we will pay it back. just like if n a house if you run up debt whether it is consumer debt and mortgage debt you have to pay interest and so does the federal government. right now interest rates are relatively low, but they are bound to go up in the future. that will make our interest payments much higher. if we don't correct this problem, the interest will tend to dominate. greater than defense or social security. >> we have our history to guide us. when debt gets too high people are skeptical about lending. and then you run into a crisis like we have seen in greece and many other countries. it is dangerous when it gets too high, and we are moving close to that dangerous level every day. >> well now you have seen how

much debt we have, how about where all of that money goes? the federal government spends more than $11 billion a day, $3 billion going to the department of health and human services. $2.5 billion go to social security. $1.8 billion to the defense department. but economists say most concerning of all is the $854 million a day hour country pays on our debt every single day. so we want to know what you think about the cost of spending. do you think your tax dollars should be spent better, in some other way? tweet your answers to us. i will read some of your responses. you can watch the entire cost of spending on our special report. and don't go away. we have some very special guests coming up in our studio. we will introduce you to a group in washington that is making sure some of our animal friends find a loving home this holiday. and some news you can use. what could going over the fiscal cliff mean for you and

your investments? we will talk to a husband and wife team of financial experts when we come back.

well, the holidays are a time of course to enjoy loved ones and give back to those who are less fortunate. all season we have been highlighting various charities. we have chosen the washington humane society who has been working hard to give animals a better home to live and happy and healthy life. joining us is kristine bell, adoptions out reach coordinator for the washington humane society. i should add this is the first time have i been sandwiched

between two pittbulls in my life. thank you for coming in. >> thank you for having us. >> tell us who these guys are. >> this is tickle. she is about a year old. >> tickle and not trickle. no trickling allowed. >> tickle. she came in as a stray about six months ago. she is actually one of our highlighted 12 adoptables for our jingling all the way home christmas promotion. her adoption fee as well as 11 other adoption fees for some of our special animals are waived until the end of the year. that over there is finish -- finnigan. he came in as a stray as well. >> this will solve all of your problems. >> tickle, sit. he actually came in really sick. he had parvo which is a disease we see really common in unvaccinated puppies. so he came in. we set him up with a medical

foster home, and he healed right up and now available for adoption. >> 12 days of adoptables is what you call this. it comes with a lot of really nice perks. >> it does. tickle and the 11 others i mentioned their adoption fees are all waived. our standard adoption features apply, but with any adoption from us you get first of all a loving companion like tickle. you also get 30 days of free pet health insurance through 24 pet watch. all of our animals are microchipped, spayed or neutered and up to date on vaccinations before going home. all of our dogs are heart worm tested and all of our cats are leukemia and fiv tested. >> on a more serious note it is no coincidence you have two pittbulls. these are dogs people think about getting and want them for protection or to be macho. they can be loving pets, but they find out the work involved in having a pet and

taking care of one is a lot more than what they expected when they had the first idea. >> absolutely. we look at every animal as an individual. we don't discriminate based on breed or anything like that. we look at the personality of the dog and how they would do in a home environment. when we are looking for adopters we look at will this dog be a good fit for your home? is this the dog you are looking for? we try to find a dog that matches your personality and what you are looking for in a companion animal as well. >> kristine, thank you for bringing these two guys in, finnigan and tickle. thank you guys for being well behaved and for not taking my face-off. i know you are a good guy. the first part of the charity is the red cross and it is a super corm sandy relief effort. they do a lot for our troops and they run a holiday cards for heros program that sends cards to our veterans and military families and troops overseas. here at america's news headquarters we collected

cards from our on air personalities and made some new cards to send out. go to red cross .org to give to our troops. everything from phone cards to comfort kits this holiday season. talks are stalled and the deadline is approaching with each passing day it looks more and more likely we could go over the edge of the fiscal cliff. what does that mean for you and your family? we will ask some experts when we come back.

newtown, connecticut is still mourning after wrapping up a week of fiewn -- funerals and memorial services. emily parker, josephine gay and anna marquez green were laid to rest yesterday. the local united way says its donation fund has already reached the $2.8 million mark. president obama enjoyed the first day of his annual hawaii an vacation with a round of golf. later he had dinner with family and friends and he is expected at a memorial service for the late hawaii an senator. he promises to be back after the holiday for the fiscal cliff talks. and some gratuitous baby animal video courtesey of the san diego zoo.

too cute, too cute. the zoo's panda cub had a blast with this new toy during the latest health exam. the zookeepers gave him that ball to test his coordination. just as cute as can be. so what could going over the fiscal cliff mean for you and for your investments? joining us are a husband and wife team of financial advisors. a highly respected team. founder of ettleman services and author of rescue your money. and joining us is gene ettleman. welcome to you both. a lot of people are scared for this fiscal cliff and what it means for their investment. what should people be concerned about before the end of the year? >> in a few rare cases people might have an opportunity to do transactions to pay capital gains taxes this year which are lower than they will be next year. but we are discovering in an analysis it is pretty uncommon. most people are doing literally nothing. as long as your account is

diversified and you have a long-term horizon it is better to sit and wait and this too shall pass. >> is that when american business is doing? they are making all kinds of structural changes to their tax lie billeteds before the end of the year -- tax liabilities before the end of the year. >> business is confused and annoyed right now. there is no question. they don't know what the direction is of the tax law or economic policy on capitol hill. and so they are reacting by sitting on their hands. big business is paying dividends early. oracle paid a big dividend to get into the 2012 tax year. other businesses are not building new factories and hiring new workers and growing growing and expanding, and it is preventing the economy from growing which is why reare frustrated over the impasse 0 capitol hill, and why we definitely want them to fix it. >> gene, in that context what should people do to calm their nerves before the change of the year? >> well, they need to read the other side of money. "the other side of money" is a book i have put together. it is a culmination of 10

years of articles i have been writing for our newsletter. it talks about how to find happy. money is a tool we need to use, but it doesn't make us happy. and so the book talks about that. finding happy. >> it is fascinating how people look to us as financial advisors because they come to us to achieve financial goals. but gene's emphasis is there is more to life than money. having a lot of money doesn't make you happy. gene's pure excellence is in the area of helping people understand how to really achieve what matters the most in life. >> brett did a series and we aired a portion this morning and more is on-line about the threat that the debt poses to this country. particularly the interest on the debt. if interest rates rise up even marginally, the impact on this is huge. it will affect virtually everybody from wanting to buy a car and people want to buy a house and how people invest. what do you do and what do you

council your people in light of this threat ever rising interest rates which may hit us? >> take advantage of today's low interest rates if you are a barrower of the it is a wonderful time to lock in a 30-year mortgage. we will never see this again in our lifetime, so let's take advantage of that right now. if are you a saver on the other hand, rising interest rates will be good news. the interest rate on your cd's and bonds will go up. savers have been punished by these terribly low interest rates. they are actually looking forward to a rise in rates. >> and how about the risk of inflation? with all of the quan day tiff easing, are people really afraid of inflation and perhaps hyper inflation? >> i am giving that question to rick. >> all right. >> gene's focus is really on how do you deal with the issues of the and anxiety that people feel as a result of the threat of rising interest rates and the fiscal cliff and so on. my perspective is stay long-term focused and maintain

a highly diversified portfolio. stay focus owed your goals and if will help you get there. gene's talent is in helping people deal with the issues associated with the fears and the anxieties and the over scheduling of our lives as we try to deal with all of those issues. >> thank you both very much. great advice. i will pick up that book because i could use a little more myself. thank you. rick and gene, thank you for coming in and happy holidays. former u.s. senator chuck heigle is thought to be the top choice for defense secretary. they say from a soldier's eye view heigle is the wrong man for the job. we will talk about that coming up next.

trains, planes and automobiles. millions of you are hitting the roads for the holiday right now. according to triple-a, millions will travel 50 miles or more for the holidays. how will it look? we will have your forecast. hour number two of "america's news headquarters" live from the nation's capital starts right now. fiscal cliff negotiations fell apart late last night as you know.

but law i can makers are holding out hope for a last-minute deal. still holding out hope. lawmakers took to the fund shows to defend their positions. steve centanni live with the latest update. >> still no agreement but you plenty of talk as the two sides aired differences in the fiscal cliff delate. after john boehner called off the push for a so called plan b saying the ball is now in the democrat's court there has been no movement towards any kind of deal. the wealthy and republicans want spending cuts. one key republican says what we really need is leadership. >> if you want leaders you have to lead. the president has been a pathetic fiscal leaders. he produced three budgets and can't get one vote for the budget. i would vote for revenues including tax rate hikes even though i i don't like them to save the country from becoming greece. but i am not going to set aside the $1.2 trillion in cuts. >> the president meantime is in hawaii, but he spoke out on the fiscal cliff at the white

house on friday before leaving town for christmas. he scaled back his goals for the few remaining days between now and the end of the year. he is focusing now on the middle class tax cut and extended unemployment benefits. both of which would disappear january 1st if nothing is done. the president and his supporters believe a larger deal is possible, one that includes higher taxes on the wealthy. the president supporters saying that position should come as no surprise to anyone. >> on taxes i know it is hard for the republicans, but the president ran on that platform, 250. no tax increases for people below, but taxes for people uh uh -- above. 60% of the voters were for it in the exit polls including some republicans. >> everyone is expected back here in washington after christmas to try again to hammer out some kind of deal, doug. >> thank you very much, steve. the first family is spending the holidays as you know in the president's home state of hawaii. but mr. obama is taking time out from his vacation to attend a funeral service for

the late senator. ed henry joins us now from hawaii. ed? >> aloha, doug. as you heard steve said the president is taking a little vacation and leaving the fiscal cliff behind, but probably not for long. we expect shortly after the christmas holiday with his family here the president is expected to head back to washington to work with congress to try in the final days. about that. he got in a golf game yesterday to dinner with the first lady. a little downtime. but then as you noted today he will be honoring the long service, the long life of the senator from hawaii. a half century in the senate, but a medal of honor winner on the battlefield in world war ii where he lost an arm. they are going to be at the national memorial cemetery of the pacific at punch bowl where the senator will be laid to rest. the president on friday at the washington national cathedral said he was inspired as a young boy when he saw the senator at the watergate hearings. take a listen. >> i learned how our democracy

was supposed to work. our government of and by and for the people. we have a system of government where nobody is above the law. we have an obligation to hold everybody accountable from the average citizen to the most powerful of leaders. because these things we stand for, these ideals we hold dear are bigger than any one person or party or politician. >> now, of course, poll ition -- politicians from a far different generation, the senator from the greatest generation, paid his respects in the capital row -- rotunda. he actually got out of the wheelchair and said he didn't think his old friend danny would like to see him in the wheelchair. we should poit out when the president goes to the punch bowl cemetery his own grandfather is buried there.

on previous trips to hawaii the president has taken some time to stop at that gravesite to reflect on his own grandfather's service in world war ii, doug. >> ed henry is live in honolulu. we will be talking to you live. great to see you. doctors for former president george hw bush says he is not ready to leave the hospital yet. he needs to build up more energy before going home. bush was hoping to leave the hospital in time for christmas. he has been there for a month now being treated for bonn could -- for bronchitis. no word on when he will be released. and they are wondering where the government's state department falls short. republican congressman from new jersey chris smith. thank you for joining us. >> thank you very much. >> we just heard a lot in recent days about the accountability review board. you chaired a similar review board -- excuse me. you didn't chair, but you got -- you looked at a report like this in 1999 following the bombings in tanzania and

kenya. at that time you found -- excuse me, at this time you foundry markable similarities this time you found remarkable similarities between that today. report and what we have seen between the accountability review board today. seems to make nearly identical points using language that is also verbatim. that suggests there was no follow-up to the recommendations, hos those whoo not learn from history let me he add this are condemned to repeat history. in 1999 after 220 people were killed at nairobi when they bombed the two u.s. embassies, 4,000 people were wounded. it was the ultimate wake up call. i chaired the hearings and i wrote a law to put -- to authorize security and upgrades for our embassies. much of that has been implemented. we had a thousand diplomatic security people in 1998, and now we have over 3,000 who are

dedicated to that mission. unfortunately some of the same people, eric boswell, the assistant secretary, he is one of the ones fired just last week. he was interviewed by the accountability review board in 1999 and 1998 by the admiral. a lot of the same people in the same positions, where was the lessons learned. the biggest open question is what about hillary clinton. his accountability review board has had all kinds of systemic failures as he called it in the president. called it in the report. they interviewed the secretary of state. madeline allbright admitted she was asked repeatedly to upgrade the security. they repeated requests made by the embassy, but they went unheated by the state department. >> we know she suffered this concussion and laura ingram described it as the immaculate

concussion created usage of the english language. you believe she needs to testify . hope remains she will, but tough questions have to be answered. was she aware of the compelling need for the security upgrades in benghazi and tripoli and the consulate there. and did she like madeline allbright? we have to ask her those questions. >> is this indicative of a small footprint the president has advocated in this foreign policy? >> yes. >> is that the root cause? >> i think the root cause is not being adequately or not adequately understanding the nature of the evil threat of the the -- the evil of the threat and taking leadership steps and making sure our embassy security and the personnel with whom we are allied with are protected. the people deployed abroad are

unbelievably good people who do for us the american people an important service. they need to be protected and regrettably there was a break, a systemic failure. >> 10 seconds or less. she has said that she will testify in mid-january. do you have any reason to doubt that? >> i don't know. the fact that she wasn't here has not testified during these several monthsment we -- several months. to have the secretary of state come up and give an accounting right after this occurred to tell us exactly who knew what and when and the chain of command. was she aware of the incredible risks that went unheeded. >> congressman chris smith. thank you very much. >> the muss 4reu78 brotherhood is claiming a second round on a controversial referendum. unofficial results show the draft passing with 64% of the vote. critics say there are irregularities of the voting and the result maze beacon tested.

and the power grab has divided the country and sparked nationwide protests. chuck heigle is thought to be at the top of the short list to replace leon panetta as the secretary of defense. two senators say heigle would face a tough confirmation battle and one coming man elect and war veteran has written an op-ad saying he is the right man for the job. he joins us with more on that. why do you think he is the wrong man for the job, congressman elect? >> hello, doug, thanks for having me on. he served our country admirably in vietnam. but i think our troops today deserve someone better to lead them and advocate for them in washington. mr. heigle voted for the iraq water in 2003 and then in 2006 he was opposed to sending more troops in the surge. he wrote an op ad the week end my and my fellow soldiers

returned from fighting in baghdad. he said we could not achieve victory in iraq. he said the time for troops there had passed and we needed to look for a graceful withdrawal. i think that breaking of faith with our soldiers makes him not the right man to leave the pentagon. he went on in 2007 not only to oppose the surge and delay war funding and vote for a mandatory withdrawal from iraq at the same time. >> i want to quote directly from senator heigle at that time. there will be no defeat and no victory for the united states in iraq. and the time for more troops in iraq has passed. and it went on to say that -- i will just read this here, my comments 14 years ago were in -- actually this is in regard to a different issue. let's take that off and we will get to that in a moment. you were the platoon leader before it even happened. >> i was leading a 41-man with the 101st airborne in

baghdad in 2006. those men fought bravely. they helped stabilize our sector of the city 1k3 defeat al-qaeda and other foreign terrorists and protect other civilians. they are proud of their accomplishments and no one told them at the time we would not achieve victory and we needed to withdraw from the country. today's fighting troops we have 68,000 troops in afghanistan. they deserve secretary of defense who will not only honor their service, but protect their accomplishments and be an advocate for them in washington. >> he also refused to label the iranian revolutionary guard as a terrorist organization. you had stropping feelings about that at the time you were in iraq because of the work the iranian revolutionary guard was doing in iraq, right? >> that's right. the revolutionary guard corp is the leading terrorist state in the world. and specifically in iraq in 2006 and 2007 they were smuggling in particularly lethal kind of road side bomb

called an explosively project tile. it could cut through any piece of armor we have. it will refuse to designate that organization as a terrorist group which is exactly what it is. i think it shows short sided vision in the extreme. and again it makes mr. heigle not the right man to lead the military in a time of war. >> and i want to pull that graphic back up, but he issued an apology in recent days for what many regard as a gay slur. he called president clinton's pick for ambassador to luxenburg an openly aggressive gay. the apology he wrote recently was this, my comments 14 years ago in 1998 were insensitive. they did not reflect my views or the toe tall tee -- or the toe tall tee of my public record. i apologize to any lgbt americans who may question my commitment to their civil rights. is that an acceptable apology in your opinion?

are opposedthe wide ranging to mr. heigle right now. i think the human rights campaign, the leading gay rights activist groups in washington is opposed to him. this morning chuck schumer, a distinguished senator from the president's own party refused to come out on the record to support mr. heigle as did joe lieberman. it is not just conservatives or republicans who are opposed to mr. hoegle -- mr. heigle. >> real quick, he is known to be a con terror yen and out of the box thinker. does that explain these comments? >> perhaps it does, but america's fighting troops don't need a contraian. they need a leader. >> representative, we will see you when the new session gets underway in january. >> thanks. merry christmas. >> you too. former solicitor general robert borke has been laid to rest. former federal judge i should say. he was nominated by president

ronald reagan, but the senate rejected the nome make with a consider -- rejected the nomination by a wide margin. he was battling heart conditions and pulmonary disease. he was 85 years old. it is going to be a special christmas for the family of john hammer, the former marine who was releasedded from a mexican jail on friday night after two members of congress took up his case. hammer was detained in august after he ran up against mexico's strict gun laws. he was jailed for trying to carry an heirloom rifle across the border even though he tried to declare it there. his relieved mother says she can't wait for him to get home. >> it was like my first night that i slept all nightlong without getting up. it was the thought of not wondering what is going on with him, can anyone hurt him tonight, those kind of thoughts. >> hammer's mother says he has a stomach bug, but appears to be doing okay. john and his father are expected to arrive home in florida sometime today.

thousands of new government regulations are in the works and could directly impact the economy. shannon investigates in our regulation nation coming up next. and we will share an incredible story of heroism. how an officer risked his life to save a woman. stay with us. n i still ship a gt in time r christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery. anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'.

take a look at this video shot from a cell phone. police officer edward norton in boston jumps in the frigid water to save a woman's life. it is not clear how the woman fell into the water but a witness says that he threw his car into park and leapt into the water after her, carrying a life saving ring with him as you can see, the woman is being treated for are hypothermia but is expected to fully recover. after more than a year, president obama has finally begun to release his regulatory agenda. the u.s. law requires federal agencies to publicly report proposed regulations that will have a significant impact directly to congress. we now know from the government's website from the department of labor that just within the last four months more than 6,000 new proposed

regulations are pending. shannon bream is investigating the onslaught of new regulations and spoke with the founder and president of the media research center who says the media has failed to keep the american public informed about this. >> nobody is reporting the truth about obama care. you know, p.j. o'rourke made a great observation 20 years ago when said if you think healthcare is expensive now wait until it is free. what we are seeing is the free healthcare that was promised and it is anything but free. >> well, and, of course, there are going to be volumes and volumes of regulations coming from the healthcare law and we are already starting to see some of those and a lot of red flags for people. when the hhs regulation came out on the issue of contraception that has sparked dozens of legal battles across the country. another regulation that recently has been rolled out raising a lot of eyebrows as

well. the $63 a head charge meant to cover preexisting condition costs but that $63 a head as i underand it it is going to be levied on everyone, healthy, well, or with a preexisting condition. >> this is a natural reaction to things like just the passing a magic wand and saying that preexisting conditions are going to be covered. how? somebody has to pay for these things. now, we are learning, everyone is paying for these things. this free healthcare was never free. it is expensive and already logic told ust lodge eck told was going to happen has happened. already more expensive and going to lose money and we have just seen the beginning of it. >> how closely do you think people should be tracking these regulations? >> first and foremost the press has to be tracking this. the press supposedly reports on this stuff and is not reporting these things. secondly, i think the public with all due respect to the

public, the public needs to be a little sharper about this and think these things through. when you are offered free healthcare it ain't free. someone was paying for it. and guess what, ladies and gentlemen, it was you and me. >> and something that would help the press and the public alike to be able to track these regulations when coming out at the volume that they are and these are proprosed regulations. for folks to know more about it there is the regulatory flexibility act which requires reporting proposed regulations that will have a significant economic impact. number of lawmakers on the hill have been really vocal about complaining about the fact that they never got the report from the the obama administration in april or october and point out it was an election year. as my understanding of the law is, you know, essentially the administration has broken the law by not making those reports. >> that's right. you are seeing time and again this administration is simply disregarding the rule of law in

one issue after another. and frankly, they are not being held to account by the legislative body on this. and when they need to say something to satisfy the critics they just make it up. for example, the religious freedom regulation in there. they simply announce there had been an accord and compromise reached when it was never reached and they simply moved on from there and said it was all about contraception and it never was. so the regulation against religious freedom continues. >> brent bodell we know you are watching those regulations and we are as well. thanks for your time. >> thank you, shannon. some say no deal is what the country really needs to cut spending and raise more taxes. others predicting that the lack of an agreement will plunge the economy into an immediate recession in january should that happen. up next, a fair and balanced debate and a welcome christmas gift for holiday travelers.

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newtown connecticut is still mourning after wrapping up a week of funerals and memorial services for the victims of the sandy hook school shooting. 6-year-old emily parker, 7-year-old josephine gay and 6-year-old ana marquez greene were laid to rest yesterday. the local united way says its donation fund it has already surpassed the $2.8 million mark. president obama enjoyed the first day of his annual hawaiian vacation with a round of golf. later he will have dinner with

family and friends and today expected to attend a memorial service for the late senator daniel inouye. he will be back in washington after the holiday for fiscal cliff talks. this panda club had a blast with the new toy during the latest health exam. zoo keepers gave the panda the ball to test coordination. you know he the number, $16 trillion in debt and counting. as the number grows larger the country gros closer to toppling over the fiscal cliff. joining us is julian epstein and ford o'connell a former advisor to senator john mccain's presidential campaign. thanks to both of you. good to see you. >> thank you for having us on, doug. >> good to see you. good morning. >> julian, let's start with you. do you think president obama wants us to go over the fiscal cliff? >> nobody wants us to go over the fiscal cliff. the estimates show that if we go over the fiscal cliff it

could cost us some where between 1 and 2 gdp points. nobody thinks it is a good idea. every single poll including the "wall street journal" and pugh has shown that the american public overwhelmingly by the order of 70% want a balanced approach. of the $2 trillion in deficit reduction goal, a trillion, half in revenues and a trillion the other half in spending cuts. in fact, that is where most economists and deficit reduction experts are. the idea of balance. that is where the election, the american people were, the president campaigned on this issue and that is where john boehner was a week ago. a trillion in tax revenues and a trillion in cuts and took that to his own republican caucus and they were unwilling to support him on that. it is impossible to get a deal if the republicans put forward a leader who then presents a proposal to the president that the republicans themselves don't even back up. >> ford, i will put the same question to you.

do you think the president wants to go over the fiscal cliff. it is a balanced approach and achieves the tax increases and revenue increases that the president wanted to see and imposes strict devastating cut. 10% across the board at the department of defense which many people have could be used to fund long-term entitlements. >> i don't think the president wants to go over the fiscal cliff but i do think he wants to break house republicans not just on this issue but on several issues down the road and essentially john boehner was right with bran b. we needed to pass that because we need leverage on president obama because president obama is not offering a balanced approach. he is talking about cutting spending but not talking about preserving medicare and social security which is 6 6 to 62 tof the federal budget. they need to use the debt ceiling limit to preserve medicare and social security. i think we will eventually reach an agreement here. >> but doug, i don't believe -- i don't think that is entirely fair. the president put on the table things that many people in his

party don't like. he put on the cpi on social security and agreed to some where around $400 billion in medicare cuts. he but entitlements on o the table in big, big numbers. john boehner was the guy who said a week ago we got to have a trillion in revenues and a trillion in cuts. that was the basic frame work for the deal. so then the decision in terms of where the tax rates would go up, whether it was 250 a year or 500 a year or what that thresh hold was, that was within the realm of achievement and the art of the possible. so we had the framework for the deal until the republicans in the house said no way, pulled the rug out from under the feet of john boehner and that is what made the deal impossible. >> how about the -- >> on the part of the extremists in the republican party it is my way or the highway. >> i certainly agree the game theory is a lot of art among house conservative. they don't recognize that the president is going to get his way. the question is how do we minimize that. i think what happened here is that the republican position has been weakened because of

what happened with plan b but i think that speaker boehner has been the only one here really between the senate and white house that has shown true leadership. i think we will get a deal. if you think what the president offer od on entitlements is a way forward with respect to spending you are are kidding yourself. we need structural reform to social kurt and medicare and essentially we are kicking the can down the road. >> both of you will leave on this note -- >> i agree with everything you just said there and i do think that boehner was trying to show some leadership although he didn't have any support of the caucus. i don't think with all due respect boehner is putting out structural reform on either medicare or social security. he did not put forward the ryan plan on medicare because it didn't work well in the election. the republicans who have -- >> it is the christmas season and i believe in miracles. something is going to happen. >> santa claus will arrive. >> we are flat out of time. >> i think the republicans --

>> we are out of time and we have to go. a good start to the discussion. ford, we hope that santa claus does arrive. >> thank you, doug. >> if not on december 25 at least on december 31 when we really need him this year. thank you, gentlemen. >> we will keep our fingers crossed. thanks. travel was a real nightmare for some people earlier this week but not today. good news for those heading home for the the holidays. joining us from la guardia airport, david lee miller. david? >> doug, about 5.6 million americans are expected to fly this who will ta holiday seasod although today is one of the busiest travel days of the year the delays and cancellations are few and far between. one notable exception, however is san francisco where we are told there are some weather-related issues. just a few days ago a different story. a storm walloped the midwest, causing some 1,000 plus cancellations and that is now ancient history and the passengers we talked with today

say they do not anticipate any problems. listen. >> i think the weather is supposed to be good. i think america is ready for heavy travel day and hopefully we will get there easily. >> we just got here are so so far it has been pretty good. >> where are you going? >> we are going to mexico. >> and you anticipating an easy trip? what are you hearing? >> we have a layover in texas, what, like three hours. so it will be good. hopefully. >> and in addition to the airports being busy this time of year, so, too, are the roadways. one statistic, doug, one out of four americans is going to be traveling in excess of 50 miles or more this holiday season. they say this is going to be the busiest wh holiday season since 2006. so far at least for now no problems but storms might be brewing after christmas day.

doug? >> david lee. and on that note, some of you are, indeed, going to be having a white christmas. new york state already getting a bit of a dose of winter weather and two other storms brewing that could bring others a white christmas as well. rick reichmuth at the fox weather center with your holiday forecast. rick? >> it is amazing. everybody wants a white christmas but don't like it when it snows and makes it it hard to get home. we might be at least with one storm in the best of both worlds. a storm brewing across area of the south. a future radar what we think is going to happen with this storm. brew tonight across the southeast and then tomorrow hit some colder air once it gets to around pennsylvania. by around 6:00 tomorrow night christmas eve could be seeing some snow flying around parts of pennsylvania moving in towards upstate new york. eventually across much of new england. so waking up tuesday morning to a bit of a storm. the good part is, it is going to be 1-3-inches of snow so shouldn't cause any big problems on the roads and certainly not in the airports. the other storm that we are watching. let me sew you this actually.

a little bit of lake effect snow left from what we saw yesterday. the big storm are is across the west. the series of storms impacting the west coast. this is the last one there. take a look at what happens over the next couple of days. into monday see this eject out towards parts of the four corners bringing snow and a little bit of rain towards l.a. by tuesday a snowstorm across oklahoma and kansas and arkansas and then a wednesday snowstorm in across parts of the northeast. >> sounds a little omero u omi. how do you get a teenager to spend less time in front of a screen and more time with his nose in a book? this former profootball player and his wife say it is simple write books that kids want to read. their mission to save at-risk teens, coming up. you know how painful heartburn can be. for fast, long lasting relief, use doctor recommended gaviscon®. only gaviscon® forms a protective barrier that helps

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you know the average american teenager spends two

hours watching tv every day and only 7 minutes reading according to the u.s. department of labor. i think we can all agree that is just not good. what is worse is that 77% of 8th graders read below grade. let me repeat that. 77%. three out of every four. according to the national assessment of educational progress that statistic comes from. with a lot of prayer one couple decided to put aside fame and fortune and try to turn that statistic around. derrick moore and stephanie perry moore. authors of the lookwood lions series of books. appreciate you being with us today. good to see you. >> thank you. >> thank you for having us. >> i want to hear more about the series of books momentarily. a very broad question we could probably spend hours on. how did we get to the point where 77% of 8th graders are reading below grade level?

how did this happen? >> a great question to ask. how did it happen? you said it. kids are doing so many other things nowadays but not spending time taking advantage of their own education. great textbooks and educators and in the best school buildings but you they have to decide internally they want to take advantage of getting their own education. kids aren't finding success and therefore they are not really trying and that is what is making them fail. >> this lockwood lions series of books tries to address the fundamental issue by making reading interesting, right? >> we are so excited. we spent a lot of time in the schools and have is been asking the young people what is it that you like and gets you fired up and what would you like to read in a look and we try to make sure we put it in there. the tough stuff, date rape, tough issues of abandonment, your family and parents with terminal disease. we just wanted to make sure that we hit the hardcore issues

so young people can say even though i'm struggling in my personal life i don't have to bring that to school and not succeed there. i can work on myself and figure it out. >> you impose in the series of books a lot of personal experiences. played in the nfl for 7 years and now the chaplain for the georgia tech football team. >> that is correct. and certainly i think it is important to help young people make the connection. sometimes they -- the disconnects are there often and they are challenged with those and i think working to help them sort of bridge the gap with li literary work that reay captures their stories and certainly my own experiences give credibility to that and some of those experiences i had a chance to have of my own. >> and one of the ways you try to address the connection is through the book which is designed as a flip book. tell us what a flip book is? >> it is so exciting. one side is a girl side and

that s cheer drama and the other are side is the boy's series. we think whether you are girl or boy, male or female you will enjoy both sides because there is two sides to every story, right, doug? >> especially when it comes to the battle of the sexes, yeah. >> we are excited. >> i hear the books are doing well and selling well, right? >> yes. schools have been embracing them and young people have, too. it is fun because when you talk about the premise of each of the two different themes. we tell young people to cheer yourself through the drama. be your own cheer leader and believe that you can. for ball and swag you got to have not just swag on the field but in the classroom, too. we put the two things together and we are excited about lockwood lions. >> they are fairly simple books but at the same time big books so it looks like you are sophisticated intellectually.

>> like a toddler are if they are starting to walk and don't fall down they want to walk a little farther next time. if they can let through this book hopefully they will get through shakespeare next time. >> thank you for the great work. it is really valuable. thanks again. have a merry christmas. >> merry christmas. thanks for having us. >> a dog rescued from a war zone in afghanistan saves his owner's life. meatball is his name. two weeks ago, he alerted kim from across the house when joe had a seizure. he has had six strokes and suffers seizures as a result. >> when joe has one of these episodes, the seizures i need to give him medication immediately and me being asleep i would have never known had meatball not raised the alert and said mom, you need to come down here quick.

>> kim says meatball isn't an overly affectionate dog but the night joe had his seizure meatball would not leave his side. see spent a lifetime hoping for his return. coming up next, a sister's search for her big brother and the cia speaks out on the controversy surrounding a new film in theaters reit now. what the spy agency is saying about zero dark 30 when we come back. [ man ] ring ring... progresso this reduced sodium soup says it mahelp lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just he to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

a federal judge has struck down a missouri law that was the first in the nation to directly challenge part of obama care dealing with birth control coverage. one of our most clipped stories online. peter doocy s standing by with more on that. peter? >> the law would are required insurers to exclude birth control coverage from those who moreally object to it. a federal judge ruled it would directly conflict with the obama administration contraception mandate essentially putting insurance companies between a rock and a hard place because they can't comply with conflicting state and federal laws at the same time. the judge gave preference to the federal law. thlaw. the cia issued a rare public

statement warning people not to take the movie dark po seriously. they acknowledge the agency worked with film producers but said the agency had no influence over the final film. it has been 50 years but jill jones refuses to give up the search for her big brother. federal and local authorities are asking for h help getting new leads in the cold case that now spans three generations of investigators. three-year-old william jones vanished in 1962 while he was playing in the yard. his body was never found and jill says she feels in her but he is still alive. for more details on this interesting story check out the rest of our most clicked links. log on to fox news .com. doug? >> hard to tell whether the kind of renditions after such a long period of time are accurate or not but we applaud the effort. thank you, peter. we talked about what falling off the fiscal cliff

could cost individual americans but how much of a hit are small businesses looking at these days? (dbrenda buttner with a small business roundup. >> small biz could need a real parachute. the 2% cut in payroll taxes would expire if there is no deal and that would give the government some $95 billion in revenue but customers would have less money in their pockets to spend. also if personal tax rates go up that hits small business big as well because a majority report on the owners individual tax returns and the small businesses that rely on government contracts. they get cut if we fall as well. what to do if we do? a report from pay checks, a provider of services to small and medium sized businesses. identify tax moves to make before the end of the year to protect bottom lines. move bonuses into this year and make planned purchases now because the key deduction for the full price of assets like computers and equipment will fallne dramatically if we

off the cliff. average premiums for employer sponsored health plans soared in the last decade. up 62%. a jump from some $9,000 to more than 15 k a year. but hey, it is the holidays so let's leave with a bit of cheer. small businesses may be worried about finances but they are not scrimping on holiday bonuses. a third of companies expect to give a bonus this year and more than half say they will include clients and customers in gift giving spending nearly a thousand dollars each on business presents this this season. that is a look at small business. back to you. a very big merry christmas to you, doug. >> sand you, too, brenda. you get the sense that accountants will be especially busy this tax season. >> i think yes, absolutely. >> merry christmas to you. >> you, too. dogs dressed up for christmas, who doesn't love that, right? one shop that may be going just a little bit over the top this

holiday. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. can i still ship a gift in time r christmas? yeah, sure you can. great.

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a little holiday fun. at this shop in lima, peru, christmas is going to the dogs. whether your pet is big or small the store owner has created the right christmas outfit for all. santa standing by and ready